40 h. ago India and Japan show impact of Trump’s tariffs extend beyond trade

For a sign of the degree to which US President Donald Trump’s decision in August to double tariffs on most Indian goods to a staggering 50 per cent – the highest rate across Asia – is weighing on investor sentiment, look no further than the rupee. Having plumbed a series of record lows in recent months, India’s currency has been the worst performer in Asia this year and has breached the psychologically important level of 90 per US dollar. One of the last major economies yet to strike a trade...

Politics

3 d. ago Trump’s America still needs its allies to manage China competition

“Some of his ideas really are the same ideas that I have,” US President Donald Trump declared while hosting New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at the Oval Office. “I want him to do a great job, and we’ll help him do a great job,” he added, marking a dramatic turnabout after months of attacking Mamdani as a “communist lunatic” endangering Trump’s beloved city. In another reversal, Trump also cleared the release of the Epstein files after months of stiff resistance in the face of growing...

Politics

3 d. ago Opinion | Trump’s America still needs its allies to manage China competition

Opinion | Trump’s America still needs its allies to manage China competition  South China Morning Post

Politics

3 d. ago ‘America first’ can’t mean America alone if West hopes to counter China

“Some of his ideas really are the same ideas that I have,” US President Donald Trump declared while hosting New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at the Oval Office. “I want him to do a great job, and we’ll help him do a great job,” he added, marking a dramatic turnabout after months of attacking Mamdani as a “communist lunatic” endangering Trump’s beloved city. In another reversal, Trump also cleared the release of the Epstein files after months of stiff resistance in the face of growing...

Politics

4 d. ago What if Trump embraced immigrants like Nixon did China? | Opinion

What if Trump embraced immigrants like Nixon did China? | Opinion  The Tennessean

Events

5 d. ago Trump’s world view offers Beijing a window of opportunity on Taiwan

Since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, a growing chorus of Chinese officials and analysts have talked of an unprecedented window of opportunity for Beijing to recalibrate its domestic and international strategies. At its heart lies the Taiwan question, a perennial flashpoint in relations between Washington and Beijing. As the Trump administration ramps up its “America first” policies abroad, the US – the self-appointed world’s policeman for seven decades – has embarked on an...

Politics

5 d. ago Opinion | Trump’s world view offers Beijing a window of opportunity on Taiwan

Opinion | Trump’s world view offers Beijing a window of opportunity on Taiwan  South China Morning Post

Politics

1 week ago Trump can’t have it all: low prices, booming stocks, balanced trade

Earlier this month, the US Democrats, whom many had written off, swept the local and state elections. From Zohran Mandani becoming New York mayor and Abigail Spanberger becoming Virginia governor to two statewide wins in Georgia’s public service commissioner races, the Democrats had a good run. The winning message was, ironically, what lost them the last presidential election: affordability. President Donald Trump has since sounded the alarm that Republicans must reclaim the issue of...

Politics

1 week ago As Trump casts a pall over Cop30, China’s quiet leadership inspires hope

Amid the climate crisis, China’s quiet leadership in the fight for a sustainable future offers a reason for optimism, particularly for the Global South. After two weeks of contentious negotiations, Cop30 in Brazil concluded with an uneasy deal that sidestepped any mention of fossil fuels, exposing deep divisions and mounting frustrations. Indeed, even as Cop30 convened, the world was already suffering “summit fatigue”. After decades of lofty declarations and limited follow-through, many question...

Politics

1 week ago Opinion | As Trump casts a pall over Cop30, China’s quiet leadership inspires hope

Opinion | As Trump casts a pall over Cop30, China’s quiet leadership inspires hope  South China Morning Post

Politics

1 week ago China’s quiet climate leadership offers hope for Global South and world

Amid the climate crisis, China’s quiet leadership in the fight for a sustainable future offers a reason for optimism, particularly for the Global South. After two weeks of contentious negotiations, Cop30 in Brazil concluded with an uneasy deal that sidestepped any mention of fossil fuels, exposing deep divisions and mounting frustrations. Indeed, even as Cop30 convened, the world was already suffering “summit fatigue”. After decades of lofty declarations and limited follow-through, many question...

Politics

1 week ago Venezuela? Trump’s real aim could be laying claim to the western hemisphere

On November 16, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s most advanced aircraft carrier, sailed into the Caribbean to join Operation Southern Spear – the largest US military deployment in the Caribbean since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Donald Trump is, however, a very different president from John F. Kennedy. Whereas Kennedy endorsed the burden of American exceptionalism to “assure the survival and the success of liberty” at “any price” or “hardship”, Trump promises to prioritise “America...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump’s G20 boycott sums up a year of US attacks on multilateralism

As South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa convenes the Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg, two things are likely to be on many minds: the empty chair and the spirit of ubuntu. Wikipedia defines the ubuntu philosophy as encompassing “the interdependence of humans on one another and the acknowledgement of one’s responsibility to their fellow humans and the world around them”. For the purposes of South Africa’s hosting of the G20 summit, that Zulu term means multilateralism – anathema to US...

Politics

2 w. ago US Senate approves bill that could expand official exchanges with Taiwan

The United States Senate has passed a bill seeking to review long-standing restrictions on official engagement with Taiwan, a move certain to anger Beijing. For over four decades, Washington’s own guidelines have limited how officials may interact with their Taiwanese counterparts. But the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act asks the State Department to “identify opportunities and plans to lift self-imposed restrictions on relations with Taiwan”. Passed without objection by senators from both...

Politics

2 w. ago We have 1 year: rare earth control pause may help mend China

China’s suspension of sweeping rare earth export controls has lent “new stability” to its ties with the European Union, the bloc’s ambassador to China has said, suggesting that the two sides now have a window to improve frosty relations. Speaking at a forum in Beijing on Thursday, Jorge Toledo initially offered a bleak assessment of the EU’s “difficult” relationship with China even after the high-profile summit in July between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Chinese...

Politics

2 w. ago Opinion | Trump’s Trade War Showed That China Can Stand Up to America

Opinion | Trump’s Trade War Showed That China Can Stand Up to America  The New York Times

Politics

2 w. ago As Russia advances and Trump retreats, China’s ascendancy is clear

While the world’s attention is drawn to US President Donald Trump’s tug of war with China over trade tariffs and technological embargoes, a new development in the Ukraine war is catching the eye of geopolitical observers. Pokrovsk, a city in Donetsk Oblast, has emerged as the most critical flashpoint in Russia’s war on Ukraine. At the intersection of major supply highways and a key railway junction, it serves as a vital logistics hub for Ukrainian forces defending central and western Donetsk....

Politics

2 w. ago Opinion | As Russia advances and Trump retreats, China’s ascendancy is clear

Opinion | As Russia advances and Trump retreats, China’s ascendancy is clear  South China Morning Post

Politics

2 w. ago The diversion Trump should have taken after visiting China's leader | Opinion

The diversion Trump should have taken after visiting China's leader | Opinion  Kitsap Sun

Politics

3 w. ago Trump’s call to restart nuclear tests a reckless redefining of deterrence

US President Donald Trump’s recent call for the military to immediately restart nuclear weapons testing, apparently ending a 33-year moratorium that began under president George H.W. Bush in 1992, has sent shock waves across the globe. The announcement was made via social media moments before the much-anticipated meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, the first meeting between the...

Politics